This is a blog about the people, processes, thoughts, and opinions about technology from Autodesk.

April 25, 2018

Autodesk Gallery at One Market in San Francisco: Breaking new ground Exhibit

Autodesk makes software for people who make things. If you've ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film, chances are you've experienced what millions of Autodesk customers are doing with our software. Autodesk gives you the power to make anything, but some segments of the general public are not yet aware of that.

The Autodesk Gallery at One Market in San Francisco celebrates design — the process of taking a great idea and turning it into a reality. With about 60 different exhibits regularly on display that showcase the innovative work of Autodesk customers, the gallery illustrates the role technology plays in great design and engineering. Autodesk Gallery Ambassadors conduct gallery tours as a sideline to their day jobs. The tours provide ambassadors with opportunities to practice public speaking in front of small groups. Autodesk Gallery Curator, Jason Medal-Katz, chose the title, ambassador, instead of docent because the correct way to address an ambassador is "your Excellency." Alas, this never happens.

The Breaking new ground exhibit is an exhibit that you see on the 2nd floor of our One Market office in San Francisco that demonstrates how design and construction can be improved with BIM. BIM (Building Information Modeling) is an intelligent 3D model-based process that gives architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals the insight and tools to more efficiently plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructure. Instead of merely creating a set of blueprints, stakeholders create an information model that includes geometry (e.g., blueprints), costing, scheduling, and vendor information — everything about a project in one place. Gone are the days where the Excel spreadsheets are out of date from the latest and accurate CAD drawings.

Located on the River Glomma in Østfold, Norway, the Vamma Hydropower Plant remains the country's largest river hydropower plant — even a century after its construction — producing 14% of Oslo's electricity. A project is now underway to expand the plant, and multidisciplinary consultancy firm Norconsult is using some of the newest technologies to completely redefine the design-to-construction process.

In Norway, the Vamma Hydropower Plant remains the country's largest river hydropower plant — even 100 years after its construction — producing 14% of Oslo's electricity.

In collaboration with their partners, Norconsult has implemented Building Information Modeling to ensure quality and efficiency. Before beginning the project, Norconsult engaged engineers and contractors to determine what information they might find valuable from digital models. The team then used that knowledge to create fully integrated models for office and construction site use — executing a project without paper drawings, perhaps the first of its kind in Norway.

By working with a centralized model, the teams can better coordinate across disciplines and automate quantity, cost, and progress controls. Using Autodesk software like Dynamo and Revit, engineers, for instance, rapidly iterated through steel reinforcement options by using computational design, while optimizing for structural behavior and costs through integrated simulation and cost-estimation software. As the project has progressed, Norconsult integrated reality capture data with design models to help to uncover potential clashes and better coordinate construction among the various multidisciplinary teams.

This provided those in the field with better insight when integrating complex geometries with the model and build environment. Technology has come a long way since engineers broke ground on the original site in 1915. As the plant gets upgraded, so too does the technology used to design, plan, and build it. The result? A design and construction process that is quicker and more efficient than ever before.

Renovating a 100-year old hydropower plant is using state-of-the-art Autodesk technology anda totally paperless process — breaking new ground in the design and construction.

Using the mixed reality interface and device, here's what gallery visitors can take a virtual tour of the Vamma Hydroelectric Power Station:

Choose one of the blocks: exterior view or interior view.

Place the block on the designated area on the table.

Follow the onscreen instructions.

Even those not facile with a computer mouse or game controller can navigate the 3D space with simple movements of chess-like pieces to experience quick interaction in a 3D environment.

Thanks to the Autodesk Gallery team for the descriptive text for this blog post.

Autodesk has always been an automation company, and today more than ever that means helping people make more things, better things, with less; more and better in terms of increasing efficiency, performance, quality, and innovation; less in terms of time, resources, and negative impacts (e.g., social, environmental). The Vamma project is a perfect example of Norconsult doing more and better with less. With regards to paper, less is actually none. The Norwegians are paperless but not powerless.

The Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco is open to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There is a guided tour on Wednesdays at 12:30 pm and a self-guided audio tour available anytime. Admission is free. Visit us.

Comments

Autodesk Gallery at One Market in San Francisco: Breaking new ground Exhibit

Autodesk makes software for people who make things. If you've ever driven a high-performance car, admired a towering skyscraper, used a smartphone, or watched a great film, chances are you've experienced what millions of Autodesk customers are doing with our software. Autodesk gives you the power to make anything, but some segments of the general public are not yet aware of that.

The Autodesk Gallery at One Market in San Francisco celebrates design — the process of taking a great idea and turning it into a reality. With about 60 different exhibits regularly on display that showcase the innovative work of Autodesk customers, the gallery illustrates the role technology plays in great design and engineering. Autodesk Gallery Ambassadors conduct gallery tours as a sideline to their day jobs. The tours provide ambassadors with opportunities to practice public speaking in front of small groups. Autodesk Gallery Curator, Jason Medal-Katz, chose the title, ambassador, instead of docent because the correct way to address an ambassador is "your Excellency." Alas, this never happens.

The Breaking new ground exhibit is an exhibit that you see on the 2nd floor of our One Market office in San Francisco that demonstrates how design and construction can be improved with BIM. BIM (Building Information Modeling) is an intelligent 3D model-based process that gives architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals the insight and tools to more efficiently plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructure. Instead of merely creating a set of blueprints, stakeholders create an information model that includes geometry (e.g., blueprints), costing, scheduling, and vendor information — everything about a project in one place. Gone are the days where the Excel spreadsheets are out of date from the latest and accurate CAD drawings.

Located on the River Glomma in Østfold, Norway, the Vamma Hydropower Plant remains the country's largest river hydropower plant — even a century after its construction — producing 14% of Oslo's electricity. A project is now underway to expand the plant, and multidisciplinary consultancy firm Norconsult is using some of the newest technologies to completely redefine the design-to-construction process.

In Norway, the Vamma Hydropower Plant remains the country's largest river hydropower plant — even 100 years after its construction — producing 14% of Oslo's electricity.

In collaboration with their partners, Norconsult has implemented Building Information Modeling to ensure quality and efficiency. Before beginning the project, Norconsult engaged engineers and contractors to determine what information they might find valuable from digital models. The team then used that knowledge to create fully integrated models for office and construction site use — executing a project without paper drawings, perhaps the first of its kind in Norway.

By working with a centralized model, the teams can better coordinate across disciplines and automate quantity, cost, and progress controls. Using Autodesk software like Dynamo and Revit, engineers, for instance, rapidly iterated through steel reinforcement options by using computational design, while optimizing for structural behavior and costs through integrated simulation and cost-estimation software. As the project has progressed, Norconsult integrated reality capture data with design models to help to uncover potential clashes and better coordinate construction among the various multidisciplinary teams.

This provided those in the field with better insight when integrating complex geometries with the model and build environment. Technology has come a long way since engineers broke ground on the original site in 1915. As the plant gets upgraded, so too does the technology used to design, plan, and build it. The result? A design and construction process that is quicker and more efficient than ever before.

Renovating a 100-year old hydropower plant is using state-of-the-art Autodesk technology anda totally paperless process — breaking new ground in the design and construction.

Using the mixed reality interface and device, here's what gallery visitors can take a virtual tour of the Vamma Hydroelectric Power Station:

Choose one of the blocks: exterior view or interior view.

Place the block on the designated area on the table.

Follow the onscreen instructions.

Even those not facile with a computer mouse or game controller can navigate the 3D space with simple movements of chess-like pieces to experience quick interaction in a 3D environment.

Thanks to the Autodesk Gallery team for the descriptive text for this blog post.

Autodesk has always been an automation company, and today more than ever that means helping people make more things, better things, with less; more and better in terms of increasing efficiency, performance, quality, and innovation; less in terms of time, resources, and negative impacts (e.g., social, environmental). The Vamma project is a perfect example of Norconsult doing more and better with less. With regards to paper, less is actually none. The Norwegians are paperless but not powerless.

The Autodesk Gallery in San Francisco is open to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. There is a guided tour on Wednesdays at 12:30 pm and a self-guided audio tour available anytime. Admission is free. Visit us.